Many articles are placed in cartons or like containers in preparation for sale at a retail site. Thus, many manufacturing facilities incorporate a packaging station as part of their production operation. The product normally dictates the mode of packaging, which can involve either manual labor or advanced machinery. In addition, many of the cartons have labels applied which include indicia for identifying the product in the container and its characteristics.
In a mass production setting many machines used for inserting items or applying labels incorporate some type of "pick-and-place" operation. More specifically, a moving number associated with the machine picks an item from a feedstock supply and transports the item to be placed on the surface of the package.
In addition to applying labels at the manufacturing facility, packaged products are also similarly handled at the retail outlet or supplying distribution center. Hand-held labelers are usually used in these settings. These devices generally operate with bulk-supplied labels that are releasibly adhered to a carrier web. They function by delaminating or separating the label from the carrier web and then affixing the label to the surface of the container.
Often the labeling process functions to incorporate an EAS security target to the surface of a container to facilitate protection against theft. It can be appreciated that application of such an item to the outside surface of a container does not present a fool-proof solution since the labels may be surreptitiously removed or otherwise compromised by a thief before passing through a security detector. It is easily seen that a much more reliable system entails placing such a security target within the closed container receiving the article. This requires a device that is of appropriate size and configuration to slip into an existing opening of the container to introduce the security target to the enclosed inner compartment. Alternatively, with containers lacking an access point, the procedure necessitates a device that forms a hole or slit in a wall of the container to then allow the introduction of the target therein. The applicant is unaware of any device that performs either of these functions.
A need is thus identified for an apparatus that is capable of inserting items into a closed container. The apparatus needed for addressing this problem should be capable, in its various embodiments, of operating in both a mass production setting and on individual containers at a retail site or distribution center. Each of its various embodiments should be of such design promote the ability to accomplish the insertion objective in each of its operational environments.